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East Lyme, Connecticut: A Saltbox, a Submarine and Niantic Beach

East Lyme, Connecticut

Pictures from East Lyme

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Ellie Mitchell Pavilion, Rocky Neck State Park Niantic Bay Boardwalk Thomas Lee House

East Lyme's name traces to its colonial church: residents on the west bank of the Niantic River formed their own congregation in 1719, becoming the "Second or East Ecclesiastical Society of Lyme," which eventually gave the area its name. First settled in the mid-1600s, the town incorporated in 1839 from parts of Lyme and Waterford, comprising the shore village of Niantic and inland Flanders. Fishing, quarrying and shipbuilding were the town's defining industries — by the 1840s a fleet of more than forty vessels worked out of the Niantic River, and granite quarrying begun around 1815 drew English stoneworkers. The railroad's arrival in 1851 remade the shoreline, as fishing, shipyards and quarries gave way to summer resorts and camp-meeting grounds. East Lyme's best-known native son is Ezra Lee, who in 1776 piloted the Turtle, the first American submarine, against a British warship in New York Harbor.

  1. 710 coastal acres with a crescent beach and the WPA-built Ellie Mitchell Pavilion.

  2. A 1660s saltbox, one of Connecticut's oldest wood-frame houses.

  3. Hands-on exhibits for young children beside the boardwalk.

  4. Three secondhand bookshops with over 350,000 volumes.

  5. A 1.1-mile waterfront walk from Cini Park to Hole-in-the-Wall beach.

  6. Two more white-sand beaches, two miles east of Rocky Neck.

  7. Family-owned since 1983, sourcing from the Boston Fish Pier.

  8. A Niantic seafood house since 2003.

  9. A 16-suite waterfront bed and breakfast on Niantic Bay.

  10. A 24-room hotel across from Hole-in-the-Wall beach.

From fishing fleet to summer resort

The Nehantic people wintered in the hills and summered along the shore here before the tribe was declared officially extinct in 1880; descendants still gather each summer at the Thomas Lee House grounds. That house, on West Main Street, dates to the late 1660s and is one of the oldest wood-frame houses in Connecticut; it stayed in the Lee family until the late 1800s, faced demolition in 1914, and was rescued and restored by the East Lyme Historical Society, reopening on June 9, 1915. Ezra Lee, born in the town, piloted the Turtle submarine in 1776 in an attempt to attach explosives to a British warship in New York Harbor; the Lee House barn now displays exhibits on the episode. When the railroad reached East Lyme in 1851, the fishing fleet, shipyards and granite quarries that had defined the town's economy gave way to summer residences and resorts, setting up the beach-town character visitors find today.

Getting there

East Lyme sits on I-95 roughly midway between New York and Boston: take Exit 74 from the north for Flanders or Niantic village, or Exit 72 from the south for Niantic, with Route 156 running the shore road through Niantic past Rocky Neck State Park. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and CTrail Shore Line East tracks cross the Niantic River in town, but neither stops here — rail travelers get off at New London to the east or Old Saybrook to the west, both on the Shore Line East corridor, and finish the trip by car.

Niantic's beaches, boardwalk and books

Rocky Neck State Park's half-mile crescent of white-sand beach and boardwalk centers on the Ellie Mitchell Pavilion, built 1934-1937 with Depression-era WPA labor from the park's own stone walls and fieldstone hauled from Devil's Hopyard State Park. The 1.1-mile Niantic Bay Boardwalk links Cini Park to Hole-in-the-Wall beach, and McCook Point Park adds two more white-sand beaches about two miles east. The Book Barn, a sprawling secondhand bookshop spread across three shops within a mile of each other, stocks more than 350,000 volumes among gardens and resident farm animals. For dinner, Flanders Fish Market & Restaurant has sourced through the Boston Fish Pier since 1983, and Skipper's Seafood has served the shore since 2003.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to East Lyme?
By car — I-95 Exit 74 serves Flanders and Niantic from the north, Exit 72 serves Niantic from the south, and Route 156 is the shore road through Niantic. There is no rail station in East Lyme; the nearest is New London to the east or Old Saybrook to the west, both on the Shore Line East corridor.
Is there a train to East Lyme or Niantic?
No. Amtrak and CTrail Shore Line East tracks cross the Niantic River in town, but no train stops there. Shore Line East's nine stations run New Haven to New London; the nearest are New London and Old Saybrook.
What is the Thomas Lee House?
One of the oldest wood-frame houses in Connecticut, dating to the late 1660s, saved from demolition in 1914 by the East Lyme Historical Society and reopened in 1915. The adjoining Little Boston School barn holds exhibits on the Nehantic people and Ezra Lee's Revolutionary War submarine, the Turtle.
What beaches are in East Lyme?
Rocky Neck State Park has a half-mile crescent beach and boardwalk; McCook Point Park and the town's Niantic Bay Boardwalk, linking Cini Park to Hole-in-the-Wall beach, are both in Niantic village.
Is there a hotel in East Lyme?
The Niantic Inn, a 24-room seaside hotel across from Hole-in-the-Wall beach, and The Inn at Harbor Hill Marina, a 16-suite waterfront bed and breakfast on Niantic Bay, are both verified and open year-round.

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